Cake filler



' Nov. 17, 1953 L. H. BROWNE 2,659,320

cm: FILLER Filed Nov. 16, 1951 INVENTOR. LINDSAY H. BROWNE Patented Nov.17, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CAKE FILLER Lindsay H. Browne,Westport, Conn. Application November 16, 1951, Serial No. 256,794

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a cake filler and, more particularly, to ahand operated injector pump for filling cakes, such as doughnuts orother pastries, with jellies or other fillers.

It is an object of the invention to provide a simple hand operatedinjector pump by means of which two cakes may be filled at'the sametime.

It is another object'of the invention to provide a cake filler whichwill inject a uniform amount of filler into successive cakes.

. It is a further object of the inventionto provide a cake filler whichmay be adjusted to regulate the amount of filler injected into a cake.

These and other object of the invention will be made apparent from thefollowing description when read in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical section of the cake filler; and

Figure 2 is a top view of the cake filler.

Referring to the figures there is shown at 2 a container for jelly orother cake filler material. Covering the top of the container 2 is a lid4 and secured to and extending through the lid 4 is a sleeve 6.

A cup 8 is afiixed to the lower end of the sleeve 6 by means of a pinIll. The cup 8 includes a central bore l2 and a pair of legs l4 whichare adapted to rest on the bottom of the container 2. Mounted within thecup 8 is a ball l6 which is provided to seal off the bore I 2 as will behereinafter described. The spring I8 is contained within the sleeve 60.

An inner sleeve 20 is mounted within the sleeve 6 and has an enlargedportion 22 which is in slidable fit with the inside of the sleeve 6. Amember 24 is attached to the lower end of the inner sleeve 28 and isprovided with a sealing ring 26 in sealing engagement with the innerwall of the sleeve 6. A bore 25 extends centrally through the member 24.A valve member 28 is attached to the elongated stem 30 and is normallyin engagement with the upper portion of the member 24 providing aclose-off valve for the bore 25 in the member 24. A wire or sheet metalspring clip 2! is positioned in a circumferential groove in the tube 20.A second clip 32 is positioned in suitable grooves in the tube 6. Thespring I 8, acting against the lower portion of the member 24, normallyurges the inner sleeve 20 upwardly until the upper shoulder of theenlarged portion 22 thereof engages the clip 32, the parts in Figure 1being shown in a partially depressed condition.

The cylindrical member 33 has an inner bore 34 of greater diameter thanthe inner bore 36, and is adapted to be positioned over the inner sleeve20, the juncture of the bores 34 and 36pmviding a shoulder which restsupon the upper edge of the sleeve 20. Aflixed to the lower'end of thecylindrical member 33 is a hand plate 38. Mounted within diametricallyopposite bores in the cylindrical member 33 are the tubes. Each of thetubes has its outer end formed on a nonradial plane as shown at 42, andhas a partially turned-in lip 44 extending toward the opposite side ofthe tube. The top of the cylindrical member 33 is closed 01f by means ofa plug 46.

All of the parts of the apparatus disclosed, with the exception of thesealing ring 26 and the plug 46, are preferably made of stainless steelor other metal suitable for contact with foods. The sealing ring 26 andthe plug 46 are preferably made of rubber.

In operating the cake filler, the filling material will be placed in thecontainer 2 and the operator will press two of the cakes to be filledover the ends of the tubes 40, these cakes being shown in theconstruction line outlines 48. The turneddown lips at the outer ends ofthe tubes-40 serve to prevent a block of the cake material fromenteringeither of the tubes40.

After the cakes are positioned as indicated, the operator, still holdingthe cakes, may rest the outer portions of his hands against the outerends of the hand plate 38 and press the hand plate downwardly. Downwardmotion of the hand plate carries the inner sleeve downwardly within thesleeve 6. It will be evident that downward motion of the inner sleeve 20will cause filler material within the sleeve 6 to pass upwardly withinthe bore 25 within the member 24, through the interior of the sleeve 6and out through the tubes 40 into the cakes indicated at 48. Passage offiller material from Within leeve 6 outwardly through the bottom port I2is prevented by means of the ballcheck valve l6. Downward motion of thehand plate 38 and the inner sleeve 28 is limited by the engagement ofthe clip 2| with the upper end of the sleeve 6. The valve member 28 iscarried upwardly by the filler material passing upwardly through thetube 22. This upward travel of the valve is limited by engagement of theupper end 3| of therod 30 with the bottom of the plug 46.

At the completion of the downward stroke, the operator will release hishand pressure from against the hand plate and the spring I8 will urgethe inner sleeve 28 and its associated parts upwardly. During thisupward motion of the inner sleeve 28, the valve member 23 seals off thebore 25 in the member 24 and filler material from the container 2 isdrawn into the sleeve 6 through thebore l2 in the cup 8 and past theball l6 filling the sleeve 6 as the inner sleeve rises to its maximumupward position as detegnined by engagement of the upper shoulder o theenlarged portion 22 of the inner sleeve 20 with the clamp 32.

From the foregoing it will be evident that an operator may convenientlposition himself before the cake filler and pick up two cakes, one ineach hand, position them over the tubes 40 at indicated, press the handplate 48 downwardly to the limit of its stroke and permit it to returnto its upper position, thereby filling the two cakes with a meteredquantity of filler material. The operator will thereafter remove thefilled cakes and pick up two unfilled cakes and repeat the operation.The inner sleeve 20 may be provided with one or more additional grooves[9 for the reception of the clip 2!. It will be evident that, if theclip 2! were inserted into the groove 19, the stroke of the pump wouldbe reduced and the quantity of filler material injected into the cakeswould, therefore, be reduced. Thus, by providing two or more grooves inthe sleeve 20 for the reception of the clip 2 l, the cake filler may beadjusted to inject various amounts of filler material with each stroke.

It will be evident that the apparatus described provides a simple andefficient cake filler by means of which two cakes may be filled at thesame time and which will inject a uniform amount of filler intosuccessive cakes. The adjustability of the amount of filler injectedinto the cakes is of particular importance in view of the fact thatvarious pastries employ various fillers in various proportions.

The lid to which the cake filler is secured may be made to replace thelid originally provided with the container for the filler material. Thusthere is no unnecessary handling of the filler material. The user mayconveniently open the container, insert the pump, cover the containerwith the lid to which the pump is secured and then use the fillermaterial as desired.

It will be evident that modifications can be made to details of theembodiment of the invention described herein without departing from thescope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for filling cakes with a filling material contained withina container comprising a cover for the container, a pump extendingthrough the cover into the filling material within the container, thepump including depressible means extending above the cover for actuatingthe pump, a member attached to and extending transversely of thedepressible means, a pair of oppositely extending tubes positioned aboveand adjacent to the member and connected to the pump, the outer ends ofthe tubes being adapted to be inserted into a pair of cakes to directthe injection of filling material by the pump into the cakes uponoperation of the depressible means, the tubes and the member beingpositioned with respect to each other so as to permit an operator todepress the member with his hands while holding in his hands two cakesinto which the outer ends of the tubes are inserted.

2. Apparatus for filling cakes with a filling material contained withina container comprising a cover for the container, a pump extendingthrough the cover into the filling material within the container, thepump including depressible means extending above the cover for actuatingthe pump, a member attached to and extending transversely of thedepressible means, a pair of oppositely extending tubes positioned aboveand adjacent to the member and connected to the pump, the outer ends ofthe tubes being adapted to be inserted into a pair of cakes to directthe injection of filling material by the pump into the cakes uponoperation of the depressible means, the outer ends of each of the tubesbeing formed on a non-radial plane and having a partially turned-in lipextending toward the opposite side of the tube, the tubes and the memberbeing positioned with respect to each other so as to permit an operatorto depress the member with his hands while holding in his hands twocakes into which the outer ends of the tubes are inserted.

3. Apparatus for filling cakes with a filling material contained withina container comprising a cover for the container, 9. pump extendingthrough the cover into the filling material within the container, thepump including depressible means extending above the cover for actuatingthe pump, adjustable means for limiting the stroke of the depressiblemeans providing for adjustment of the quantity of material discharged bythe pump upon depression of the depressible means, a member attached toand extending transversely of the depressible means, a pair ofoppositely extending tubes positioned above and adjacent to the memberand connected to the pump, the outer ends of the tubes being adapted tobe inserted into a pair of cakes to direct the injection of fillingmaterial b the pump into the cakes upon operation of the depressiblemeans, the tubes and the member being positioned with respect to eachother So as to permit an operator to depress the member with his handswhile holding in his hands two cakes into which the outer ends of thetubes are inserted.

4. Apparatus for filling cakes with a filling material contained withina container comprising a cover for the container, a pump mounted on andextending through the cover into the filling material contained withinthe container, the pump being adapted to rest on the bottom of thecontainer and including depressible means extending above the cover foractuating the pump, a member attached to and extending transversely ofthe depressible means, a pair of oppositely extending tubes positionedabove and adjacent to the member and connected to the pump, the outerends of the tubes being adapted to be inserted into a pair of cakes todirect the injection of filling material by the pump into the cakes uponoperation of the depressible means, the tubes and the member beingpositioned with respect to each other so as to permit an operator todepress the member with his hands while holding in his hands two cakesinto which the outer ends of the tubes are serted.

LINDSAY H. BROWNE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 504,857 Anger Sept. 12, 1893 1,146,576 Katzinger Jul 13, 19151,730,684 Phillips Oct. 8, 1929 2,119,884 Lohse June '1, 193a 2,178,345Masson Oct. 31, 1939 2,511,723 Lewis June 13, 1950 2,547,109 BachellerApr, 3, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 123,230 Great BritainFeb. 20, 1919

